If you are not a regular cyclist, you may ask why you should support proposals
to boost investment in safe cycle routes.

More than three quarters of a million people commute to work by bicycle in
Britain every day, but you may not be one of them. So why should you care?

Building safer cycle routes would not only benefit those who cycle. It would
also encourage hundreds of thousands more people to use their bikes to make
short journeys instead of going by car or by train or bus. This would have
benefits for motorists, pedestrians, parents, businesses and taxpayers.

It would lead to less congested streets, less overcrowding on public
transport, fewer deaths on the road, less NHS money wasted on obesity, a
boost for the high street, less pollution, and a more affordable form of
transport for those priced out by rising petrol prices and rail fares.

This will only happen if a greater proportion of the existing transport budget
is spent on cycling, however.

Around 2 per cent of journeys in Britain are currently made by bike, leaping
to more than 50 per cent in parts of Central London at rush hour and more
than 10 per cent in towns like Bristol, York, Oxford and Cambridge. Yet less
than 1 per cent of the transport budget is spent on cycle provision. A
recent pledge from David Cameron to spend £94 million on cycling over the
next three years amounts to just 0.2 per cent of the Department for
Transport’s budget over the same period.

The 18 recommendations made in the Get Britain Cycling report - outlined
here - can transform Britain’s streets and towns for everyone,
regardless of whether or not they ride a bike.

Here are some arguments for why non-cyclists would benefit from these
recommendations:

I am…

A motorist

The main roads running through our villages, towns and cities are becoming a
traffic-choked nightmare. Roads designed centuries ago for a gentle stream
of vehicles are now clogged with millions of cars. For decades, government
policy has simply tried to build more roads and force more capacity out of
our creaking transport system. But as you will know if you have ever sat in
an endless traffic jam or crawled slower than walking pace through a town
centre, this approach is not working.

Petrol prices are rocketing, parking spaces are scarce and tailbacks are
growing. And yet more than half of all journeys under five miles are made by
car. In fact, more than two thirds of all car journeys are of five miles or
less.

If the roads were designed with safe cycle lanes, and more secure cycle
parking was built at key destinations, more people would be encouraged to
use their bicycles for a quick trip to the post office, for popping to the
shop for a pint of milk, for taking their kids to school and, indeed, for
commuting to work. This would take huge numbers of motor
vehicles off the roads, freeing them up for those who still need to use
their car.

Furthermore, if junctions were better designed, there would be less conflict
between cyclists and motorists when pulling away from traffic lights and
turning corners. If cyclists were given their own four-second green-light
phase – as currently happens at one
roundabout in East London - they would be able to get ahead and clear of
other traffic and there would be no risk of collision. If drivers took care
not to stop in the cycle boxes at traffic lights, another source of conflict
would also be removed. If segregated cycle lanes were installed to help
cyclists navigate through or
round dangerous crossroads and roundabouts, it would also increase
safety and freedom for all road users.

Only a tiny proportion of cyclists misbehave on the roads, but it is still a
major source of irritation for motorists when this small minority of
cyclists jump red lights or cycle at night without lights. The petition
backs calls in the Get Britain Cycling report for there to be better
training available for cyclists to ensure they know how to cycle responsibly
on the roads.

Research by Westminster Council found that 68 per cent of crashes between
drivers and cyclists are the fault of the motorist, compared to 20 per cent
which are the fault of the cyclist, so the report also calls for cyclist
awareness to be a part of the driving test, so that all new and young
drivers learn that giving cyclists extra space and time is crucial in
avoiding crashes.

It is also important to note that cyclists are entitled to use the road
because they pay council tax and income tax. The maintenance of the roads is not
funded out of the “road tax” paid by motorists, which is
actually called Vehicle Excise Duty and is linked to a vehicle’s emissions.

Even Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson has praised
cycling as a way of getting around. He last year described Copenhagen’s
cycling culture as “fan-bleeding-tastic” and said: “Now I know that sounds
like the ninth circle of hell, but that’s because you live in Britain, where
cars and bikes share the road space. This cannot and does not work. It’s
like putting a dog and a cat in a cage and expecting them to get along. They
won’t, and as a result London is currently hosting an undeclared war. I am
constantly irritated by cyclists and I’m sure they’re constantly irritated
by me.

“City fathers have to choose. Cars or bicycles. And in Copenhagen they’ve gone
for the bike.”

In major cities like London, research shows that new cyclists taking to the
road are often abandoning public transport in favour of their bikes. The new
Cycle Superhighway to be
built along Victoria Embankment will carry 1,000 cyclists an hour – the
equivalent of four Tube trains running along the District and Circle lines
beneath.

Andrew Gilligan, London’s new cycling commissioner, said: “For a comparatively
extremely modest amount of money, we can unlock significant capacity on the
Tube.”

The same will be true all across the country. Packed buses and crammed train
carriages can be alleviated by encouraging people to make short commutes by
bicycles. If the roads are designed in such a way as to make cycling seem
safe and inviting, many hundreds of thousands of people who are currently
put off from cycling would take to their bikes, leaving you with a free seat
on the train.

If more cycle racks were installed at train stations - and if trains had
capacity to carry more bikes – people would also be encouraged to cycle
rather than drive to the station and even to take their bike on board and
cycle to work at the other end. This would reduce the need for packed car
parks at train stations and reduce the cost of commuting longer distances by
train.

In an age of spiralling rail fares, cycling is also a much more affordable way
to travel for those who risk being priced out of public transport by fare
hikes. The petition is backing the Get Britain Cycling report in its
calls for greater investment in cycling as a means of alleviating pressure
on the transport system.

A parent

Britain languishes near the bottom of the child obesity league tables in
Europe. The Government’s own Chief
Medical Officer, Dame Sally Davies, said: “Where it is safe and
appropriate to do so, cycling to school can bring important health benefits
to children. What’s more, fitter children concentrate better in school.
However, we have to make sure that cycling is safe and is seen to be safe.

“Bikeability [training] is a great way of equipping youngsters with the skills
and awareness to cycle safely, but we need to educate other road users and
create an environment in which children and their parents can cycle with
confidence.”

Every parent should encourage their child to be active and take exercise, and
cycling to school is a healthy, cheap and efficient way of doing this. But
the roads have to be safe and inviting enough for a parent to feel
comfortable about cycling to school with their children or letting their
kids cycle alone.

Your child’s school should also offer comprehensive cycle training as part of
the national curriculum, setting them up for a lifetime of being able to
travel in this healthy and affordable way. There should also be safe routes
to local schools to keep children safe on their bikes.

The Get Britain Cycling report, backed by The Times’s
petition, calls for all these things.

Trying to get fit and healthy

We are all busy people. Official advice recommends taking 150 minutes – or 2½
hours – of physical activity per week, but we do not always have the time –
or inclination – to get down the gym or go for a jog after a long day or
long week of work.

Building physical activity in as part of your daily routine is by far the most
efficient – and the cheapest – way of getting exercise. If you live within
five to 10 miles of your workplace, why not travel by bike instead of
sitting in your car or on a bus or train?

A five-mile journey across London takes a little over half an hour at a
leisurely pace, giving you an hour a day – and five hours a week – of
moderate exercise just while commuting to work.

There are other health benefits too. The
Government’s Chief Medical Officer said that cycling can “help to
prevent or manage over 20 long-term conditions, including heart disease,
strokes, type 2 diabetes, some cancers and mental health problems”.

She added that the health benefits of cycling “far outweigh the risks”.

If the roads were better designed to protect and encourage cyclists - and if
both cyclists and motorists were better trained in sharing the road
responsibly - the health benefits for you and for the country would be
enormous.

A taxpayer

The NHS spends around £5 billion each year on tackling preventable diseases
exacerbated by inactivity, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease and
strokes.

Around £16bn is currently being spent on the Crossrail project in London and a
further £3bn on upgrades to the A9 road in Scotland. Spending on both of
these individual rail and road projects far outstrips the total annual spend
on cycling in the entire country. And yet, health experts told the Get
Britain Cycling inquiry that investing in cycle provision is by far the
most cost-effective form of transport spend, recouping
£4 in health savings for every £1 invested.

Municipal authorities in Copenhagen added up the effect on health,
productivity, congestion and time saved and found that society as a whole
makes a
profit of around 13 pence for every kilometre cycled on the roads. By
the same criteria, society makes a net loss of 8 pence for every kilometre
driven by car.

Furthermore, the maintenance of the roads is paid for out of general taxation,
which is paid by motorists, cyclists and pedestrians alike through their
council tax and income tax. The “road tax” paid by motorists is in fact
called Vehicle Excise Duty and is linked to a car’s emissions. This money
does not go back into maintaining the roads, and does not give motorists any
greater right than cyclists to use the roads.

At a time of austerity, the Get Britain Cycling report does not call
for extra funding to be created for investment in cycling. It instead asks
that an appropriate proportion of existing transport budgets and
preventative health budgets is reallocated to cycle provision, in order to
reap the economic rewards of promoting cycling.

An employer or business

Sir Richard Branson, Lord Sugar, Barclays Bank, Sainsbury’s, Dragon’s
Den dragon Piers Linney, the Federation of Small Businesses, the
Business Secretary Vince Cable, and the Confederation of British Industry
are all backing
the Get Britain Cycling report.

As Edmund King, president of the AA, said: “Implementation of the Get
Britain Cycling recommendations would bring tangible business and
economic benefits by reducing congestion, absenteeism, NHS costs and by
producing a more creative and active workforce.”

Providing cycle racks, lockers and showers for employees encourages physical
activity and can lead to a fitter and more alert workforce. Sponsoring local
cycle schemes - in the same way that Barclays have sponsored hire bikes in
London and Citigroup is doing the same in New York City – gives large
companies a stake in the infrastructure that keeps a town moving and keeps
its citizens healthy.

Signing up to tax-break cycle-to-work schemes will allow employees to buy
bicycles and reap the benefits of cycling as a healthy way to travel. But
the recommendations in the Get Britain Cycling report need to be
implemented in order to make the roads safe and inviting enough for your
employees to be happy to cycle to work.

Research in New York showed that cycle lanes in Manhattan led to a 35 per cent
decrease in injuries on 8th Avenue, a 58 per cent decrease in injuries on
9th Avenue and a 49
per cent increase in retail sales on 9th Avenue.

A pedestrian

Hundreds of pedestrians are killed by motor vehicles on the roads every year.
Incidents where pedestrians are killed by cyclists are extremely rare, on
average one every couple of years.

Reducing the number of cars on the road would not only benefit motorists who
hate traffic jams, it would also make the roads safer for pedestrians, as
long as all cycle routes are constructed in a way that is considerate to the
needs of pedestrians, as well as cyclists.

People who cycle on pavements, though rare, are understandably seen as a
menace by pedestrians. When questioned, many of these cyclists said they
felt safer riding on the pavement because the roads were too dangerous.

This does not justify breaking the rules of the road – cyclists who do so
should face sanctions from police – but the roads must be designed to make
streets and junctions safer for cyclists and not force them to choose
between cycling on a poorly designed, dangerous stretch of road or cycling
illegally on the pavement.

If the roads were designed with safe and, where possible, segregated cycle
lanes, it would keep cyclists safe from motorists and from pedestrians who
step out into the road without looking [in collisions between pedestrians
and cyclists, Westminster Council found that 60 per cent were the fault of
the pedestrian] but it would also protect pedestrians from excessive motor
traffic and from cyclists who ride illegally on the pavement.

A local council official or minister

Local high streets die when they become nothing more than a thoroughfare for
motor traffic. Green space gets chewed up by ever more lanes of cars. Health
bills rocket as obesity and inactivity grows. Fatal accidents increase in
areas with high speed limits. Country lanes become race-tracks for young
drivers. Parents no longer let their children play in the street or walk to
school. Whole villages and towns become little more than glorified car parks
to cope with extra capacity, encouraging local residents to leave at the
first opportunity to seek somewhere less oppressive to live.

How can a local council make these changes and, more importantly, how can they
afford to? Mr Jones explained: “Local authorities need to identify a
junction or stretch of road and set out objectives for how they want to
improve it as a public space. They must collect data on who uses that
junction and when, and include cyclists and pedestrians.

“They then need to commission a number of designs and have an open process of
consultation on those. It does not have to cost millions of pounds. A
council can have a vision that it works towards incrementally, collecting
money from developments along the way.”

The Get Britain Cycling report calls on the Government to lead the way.
It calls for design regulations to provide clearer guidance on best-practice
for building cycle lanes. It calls for cycle lanes to be considered as a
beneficiary of money spent by developers on the local community. It calls
for more funding for schemes to be built and installed. It calls for all
local councils to appoint a high-level cycling commissioner to analyse and
push through change.

The petition asks the Government to act on these recommendations to help local
councils transform their areas for the better.

And finally…

A cyclist

Around 2 per of traffic on Britain’s roads is made up by people on bikes. In
some towns, like Cambridge, this is as high as 30 per cent. Of all vehicles
crossing bridges over the River Thames in London at rush hour, more than
half are bicycles. It is time the Government took cycling seriously.

Cyclists have as much right to use the streets as any other road user. While
they also have a responsibility to cycle in a law-abiding and considerate
manner, they also have the right to be treated with respect by motorists on
Britain’s roads. Most cyclists own a car while many motorists ride bikes –
they are not two separate tribes, but are largely the same people, all just
trying to get from A to B in peace and safety.

Motorists who leave only a few inches when overtaking a cyclist or who drive
above the speed limit are endangering people’s lives. Drivers who stop in
the cycle boxes at traffic lights are also endangering lives. Lorry firms
who do not fit extra mirrors and sensors to detect and protect cyclists and
pedestrians are responsible for an unacceptable death toll on the roads.

Cyclists who jump red lights because they cannot be bothered to wait are
endangering their own lives, just as those who cycle without lights at night
or cycle on busy pavements are taking unacceptable risks.

Everyone has a duty to use the roads responsibly, but the Government has a
duty to ensure that those roads are safe enough for cyclists and motorists
to share. Where possible, cycle lanes should be built which are segregated
from traffic – this will benefit everyone. Every new stretch of road
designed in this country must consider cycle provisions from the very
outset.